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Moore, Thomas; John Lindley (ed)
The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland
Publisher: Bradbury and Evans, London, 1855. Very Good with no dust jacket. First Edition. First Printing. Hard Cover First Complete Edition, First Printing. Half leather over cloth boards, spine in six compartments separated by raised bands, gilt lettering on black label on spine, marbled endpapers, t.e.g. This is the first nature-printed book published in Great Britain. Illustrated with 51 nature-printed plates, all hand-painted, published by Bradbury & Evans, under the direction of Henry Bradbury, son of William Bradbury. Henry Bradbury (1831-1860) discovered nature-printing while studying at the Imperial Printing Office in Vienna. Alois Auer, the director of the office, together with his associate, Andreas Worring, had patented the process in October of 1852. When Bradbury subsequently returned to London, he patented an improved version of the process, without giving appropriate credit to Auer and Worring. Bradbury initially published The Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland in 17 monthly installments, between June of 1855 and September of 1856, and then issued all 51 plates in this book, with text by Thomas Moore. The text was a scientific description of all the varieties of Ferns found in the British Isles written by Thomas Moore (curator of the Chelsea botanic garden and co-editor of Gardener's Chronicle). The volume was edited by the eminent botanist and horticulturist John Lindley. The book was released at a time of so-called "pteridomania" (Fern-Fever, a craze for ferns) in Britain. Although its publication was preceded by Bradbury's "A Few Leaves from the Newly-Invented Process of Nature-Printing" (1854), which he considered only to be an advertisement, it was the first complete nature-printed book published in Britain, and is described in Lindley's preface as 'the first English attempt at applying Nature-Printing to Botanical Science'. In the nature-printing process, the ferns, a plant highly suited to the process, were impressed upon soft lead plates. These were electroplated to become the printing plate, the details of the fronds and stem were then hand-colored. The resulting image was in two colors and provided a highly detailed and realistic depiction of the species. Despite a high level of interest for a time, the technique was not employed extensively in any subsequent English works. Bradbury, along with Auer, believed the technique to be an enormous advance in printing. However, the plants and other subjects that could be successfully printed in this way were few. Bradbury went on to publish William Johnstone's The Nature-Printed British Seaweeds (London: 1859-60), and to plan a further four nature-printed works. However, the controversy with Auer continued to dog his steps. He committed suicide at the age of 29 (by drinking soda water mixed with prussic acid in Cremorne Gardens, London). Thomas Moore (1821-1887) was an English gardener and botanist. He was an expert on ferns and fern allies from the British Isles, and he served as Curator of the Society of Apothecaries Gar

Duchesne Aine, Jean; et al.
Musee Francais: Recueil des plus Beaux Tableaux, Statues, et Bas-Reliefs qui Existaient au Louvre avant 1815: avec l'explication des sujets et des discours historiques sur la peinture, la sculpture et la gravure (Four Vo
Publisher: A. et W. Galignani, Paris, 1829. Very Good with no dust jacket. Second Edition. First Printing. Hard Cover Four elephant folio volumes in green half morocco over heavy cloth boards. This is one of only 600 copies printed. It contains 343 full-page copper-plate engravings of works of art contained in the Louvre before 1815, when, after Napoleon's defeat and exile, many were returned to the countries from which they were taken by the previously victorious French armies. The engravings were created by the outstanding engravers of the time, and the work was printed by Firmin Didot Freres, printers to the King. Text in English and French. Volume 1: Ecole Italienne; Volume 2: Ecole Allemande; Volume 3: Ecole Francaise; Volume 4: Statues. Each volume introduced by an essay in French and English with English titles as follow: Vol. 1: Essay on the history of painting, from the origin of the art to its regeneration; Vol. 2: Essay on the history of painting, from the period of its renovation to the end of the XVIIIth century; Vol. 3: Essay on the history of ancient sculpture; Vol. 4: Essay on the history of engraving. Pagination: Vol. 1: 8, 8, [79] p., [79] leaves of plates; Vol. 2: 26, 25, [121] p., [121] leaves of plates; Vol. 3: 9, 9, [61] p., [61] leaves of plates; Vol. 4: 14, 14, [87] p., [82] leaves of plates. An absolutely magnificent work. Extremely rare in this complete set. Covers worn, corners bumped, otherwise unmarked, tight, square and with very little foxing (almost none on the engravings). VERY GOOD. 343 Engravings. Elephant Folio 23" tall

Twain, Mark (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Tom Sawyer's Comrade)
Publisher: Charles L. Webster and Company, NY, 1885. Very Good with no dust jacket. First Printing. Hard Cover Publisher's full green cloth, reverse lettering on gilt panel and additional gilt lettering on spine, gilt decoration and lettering on cover, black embossed decoration on spine and embossed black lettering and decoration on cover. Illustrated with 174 B&W drawings by E. W. Kemble and tissue-protected photographic frontispiece of bust of the author. First issue, with the following points: (1) Copyright date 1884 (leaf bound in - McBride State C); (2) On page 13 the illustration "Him and Another Man" is listed as being at page 88, when in fact it appears on page 87 (McBride State A); (3) The typographical error "with the was, " instead of "with the saw, " appears on page 57 (McBride State A); (4) The final "5" on Page No. 155 is added in a different font (McBride State C); (5) There is no signature mark "11" on page 161 (McBride State A); (6) On page 283 the fly on Silas' pants is straight (leaf tipped in - McBride State C); (7) In the portrait frontispiece, the cloth under the bust is visible, the imprint is "Heliotype, " and the statement "Karl Gerhardt, Sc." has not been added to the finished edge of the shoulder (McBride State A); (8) On page 143 the "l" in "Col." is missing at line 1 and the "b" in body is broken at Line 7 (McBride State A); in addition, (9) On page 9, the word "decided" appears instead of the correct "decides"; (10) On page 58 the "d" in "touched" is broken at line 29; (11) On page 59, the "t" in "let" is missing at line 10; and (12) Also on page 59, the "d" in "would" is broken at line 11. [McBride, 93][ BAL 3415][Grolier American 100: 87]. This copy has been expertly rebacked with the original spine and covers laid down. The volume is housed in an extremely fine custom-made clam-shell box. An excellent example of the first appearance of this classic work. VERY GOOD. B&W Drawings. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 366 pp